The Cuban leader said he had suffered gastrointestinal bleeding, apparently due to stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba, according to the letter read live on television by his secretary, Carlos Valenciaga.

"The operation obligates me to undertake several weeks of rest," the letter read, adding that extreme stress "had provoked in me a sharp intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding that obligated me to undergo a complicated surgical procedure."

Castro said he was temporarily relinquishing the presidency to his younger brother and successor Raul, the defense minister, but said the move was of "a provisional character." There was no immediate appearance or statement by Raul Castro.

The elder Castro asked that celebrations scheduled for his 80th birthday on Aug. 13 be postponed until Dec. 2, the 50th anniversary of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Castro said he would also temporarily relinquish his duties as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to Raul, who turned 75 in June and who has been taking on a more public profile in recent weeks.

In power since the triumph of the Cuban revolution on Jan. 1, 1959, Castro has been the world's longest-ruling head of government. Only Britain's Queen Elizabeth, crowned in 1952, has been head of state longer.

The "maximum leader's" ironclad rule has ensured Cuba remains among the world's five remaining communist countries. The others are all in Asia: China, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea. (READ MORE)

Rank: Army GeneralDOB: 06/03/31Province: OrienteEducation: Social Sciences (undergraduate)Position: Minister of Armed Forces, Second Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, First Vice-President of the Council of State

Raúl was born on his father's plantation in Birán, in the northern portion of the province of Oriente, on June 3, 1931. He is the fifth of seven children of Angel Castro y Argiz and Line Ruz Gonsález de Castro.Raúl attended the Jesuit school Colegio Dolores in Santiago de Cuba and later also Jesuit school Colegio Belén in Havana. Later as a student at the University of Havana. Raúl's interests in politics became evident, He was a member of the Juventud Socialista (Socialist Youth), an affiliate of the Moscow-oriented Partido Socialista Popular, Cuba's Communist Party. In 1953, while still a student at the University of Havana, Raúl made his first trip behind the Iron Curtain. He has gone to participate in the World Youth Congress in Vienna, and visited the Soviet bloc capitals of Bucharest, Budapest, and Prague. Upon his return, Raúl began to get involved in his brother's struggle against Batista's government. The younger Castro, then, supposedly broke off from the communist organization to join his brother's fight, and did so with enthusiasm, saying that "the government has to be overthrown so that the revolution can begin." He agreed with Fidel's view that "reform in Cuba could not be accomplished by constitutional means" but by overthrowing the oppressive government. On July 26, 1953, Raúl accompanied his brother and 160 followers in an attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The attack was a dismal failure; Raúl and Fidel were captured and many of their followers were executed. Both brothers were imprisoned and Raúl was given a 13-year old sentence but released in a general amnesty in May of 1955. Although a disaster, the Moncada raid gave birth to Fidel's 26th of July Movement. After his release from prison Raúl went to Mexico with Fidel to form and organize the movement. Late in 1956 Raúl, Fidel, and 80 revolutionaries left Mexico in a yacht named Granma and landed in Oriente province. Most of the rebels were killed but the Castro brothers managed to escape to the Sierra Maestra mountains along with 12 others.

In the mountains, the Castro brothers gained support and Raúl--on February 27, 1958--gained the rank of Major. He took some supporters and established a second front in the Sierra Cristal mountains in Northeastern Oriente. Named after underground leader Frank Pa’s (who was murdered in July 1957), Raúl's "Frank Pa’s Second Front" grew to a force of several hundred men. During his stay in the mountains, Raúl Castro gained a reputation for being "the most hot-headed, impetuous, and violently anti-American" of the rebels, and possessing a killer instinct. He reportedly matched the Cuban dictator "terror for terror". In the summer of 1958, he kidnapped 47 Americans and 3 Canadians, ranging from engineers employed at the Moa Nickel Company to American servicemen stationed at Guantánamo Base. It was reported that Fidel disapproved of the kidnappings and ordered Raúlto release the hostages. Raúl did not comply. He kept the captives to negotiate with the Americans, and also because he knew that Batista would not plan any attacks while there were American citizens present in his camp. When the U.S. agreed to Raúl's demands, he released the prisoners, on July 18, 1958. The kidnappings had made headlines all over the world and new accusations of communism were hurled at Raúl. On assaults, the rebels had won. Raúl Castro then decided to marry his fiancée, Vilma Espín, who had fought alongside him in the mountains (under the name of Deborah), and was reported to be his "political mentor." They were married on January 26, 1959. She was the daughter of an upper-class rum distiller, and held a chemical engineering degree from MIT.

In the wake of the revolution, ú began to punish Batista supporters. After he became head of the Armed Forces he directed the execution of nearly 100 officers and soldiers of the Batista Army and ordered them buried in a mass grave near Santiago de Cuba. In 1959 Raúl was named Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, giving him ministerial rank and complete control in reorganizing the armed forces. He build up the army into a highly professionalized modern military establishment closely modeled on the Soviet Armed Forces and equipped with the latest Soviet Equipment. The army's motto: "At your orders, commander-in-chief--for no matter what, no matter where, and under all circumstances." He also made military service for training in the Soviet Union. In 1969 he completed an advanced course in military studies taught by Soviet experts. In March of the same year he asked that soldiers be trained "to exhibit friendship with the sister armies of socialist countries; especially the Great Soviet Army, whose representatives work at the side of our officers and also harvest the fruits of our common efforts."

As commander of Cuba's two military intelligence organizations, Raúl directly thwarted numerous counter-revolutionary activities. It was he who led Cuban land forces against exile forces in the Bay of Pigs invasion of April 17, 1961. He cleaned the presence of the Guantánamo Naval Base in Cuba a "cancer" and a permanent focus of provocation. During the 1960's, it was Raúl who played a major role in transforming the framework of the Cuban government into a "Soviet-like single political party" structure. His power was consolidated with his positions as the 2nd Secretary of the Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC) and Vice-Premier. It was Raúl who arranged for the deployment of Soviet long-range missiles in Cuba which resulted in the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In the 1970's and early 1980's he has visited the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and has been invited as observer to the Warsaw Pact Manuevers. In the early 1970's, when Raúl was promoted to First Vice-Premier, he was also given the new military rank of division commander, which is equivalent to that of General. He is also a member of the Secretariat and the Politburo of Cuba's Communist Party. He was on of the principal figures in the move toward a more Sovietized bureaucratic order and has long enjoyed Moscow's confidence as a politically reliable Cuban leader and as a competent administrator.

MIAMI, May 23 -- Political intrigues don't come any more epically scaled than this one: the future of Cuba after the inevitable death of Fidel Castro, the world's longest-reigning head of state and an American government nemesis like few others.

The singular obsession that consumes the exile community here only grows more passionate as Castro, 78, ages. It tends to crescendo at the tiniest hint of vulnerability, such as the fall last year that broke his kneecap and arm, erupting in banner headlines and talk-radio vitriol in Miami. Castro has named his brother Raul, who is five years younger, to succeed him. But a Cuban exile daredevil who once flew missions over the island to drop human rights leaflets wants to get in the way.

ose Basulto, president of Hermanos al Rescate, or Brothers to the Rescue, plans to announce Tuesday afternoon that he is offering $1 million for information leading to the indictment of Raul Castro on charges of drug trafficking and of murdering four Brothers to the Rescue pilots and passengers whose two small planes were shot down by Cuban MiG fighter planes off the island's coast in 1996.

The offer is intended to publicly pressure the U.S. government into resurrecting investigations of long-standing claims of criminal wrongdoing. But -- more important -- it also is intended to weaken Raul Castro and his allies politically and to complicate or even make illegal his succession.

"It would throw a wrench in the machinery," Basulto said of the hoped-for indictment.

Basulto already has enlisted influential figures. Guy Lewis, a former U.S. attorney in Miami who prosecuted Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega and was instrumental in the indictment of three Cuban airmen for the Brothers to the Rescue shoot down, said in an interview Monday that "there is significant evidence" in the public record to warrant indicting Raul Castro in connection with drug trafficking and the shoot-down or, at the very least, to prompt law enforcement to further investigate.

Evidence surfaced in the Brothers to the Rescue investigation, Lewis said, that Raul Castro was at the top of the chain of command that ordered the civilian group's planes shot down. During the Noriega trial, Lewis said, witnesses testified that Raul Castro facilitated cocaine smuggling to the United States. Drug kingpin Carlos Lehder has implicated Raul Castro in testimony in other cases. And a former hit man -- now in a Colombian prison for a political assassination -- who worked for drug kingpin Pablo Escobar told Spanish television network Television Espanola this month that Raul Castro was the Medellin cartel's contact for drug shipments to Miami. (Read the whole thing).

Nonetheless, most Cuba experts doubt Castro's death will bring an immediate transition toward more democratic government. Instead, they say, Raul Castro is most likely to follow his brother as the next leader of Cuba. "There are a few academics out there who assert that inevitably the reformers will win the post-Fidel struggle. I don't think so," says Juan del Aguila, a political scientist and Cuba expert at Emory University in Atlanta. "There is no reformist political faction in evidence now." Any would-be reformers among Cuba's top officials who call for liberal democracy would be purged, he says. "They would immediately become nonpersons."

Brian Latell, a retired Cuba expert at the Central Intelligence Agency, agrees that Raul Castro will probably emerge as Cuba's new leader. He makes the point in his new book, "After Fidel: The Inside Story of Castro's Regime and Cuba's Next Leader." But Mr. Latell says Raul Castro will not have the free hand that his brother has enjoyed in defending the revolution at the expense of the Cuban people. "After Raul takes over there will be a very, very widespread and deeply based pent-up demand for change - for political, social, and economic decompression," Latell says. "I think Raul is going to have to deal with that. Those are going to be among his gravest challenges."

Representative John Dingell (D-MI) appeared on a Detroit television program Sunday alongside Republican Congresswoman Candice Miller. After Dingell said he would not take sides in the current Israeli - Hezbollah conflict, the host asked “so you’re not against Hezbollah?” Rep. Dingell replied with a resounding “no.” Here’s the audio:

If the Democrats take control of the house in November, Dingell will be the Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He's one of the eight Dems that did not vote for a resolution supporting Israel. This potential committee chairman has despicably chosen a terrorist organization over a strong American ally.

MINNEAPOLIS - Attorney General Mike Hatch said Sunday that he will propose spending $100 million of state money over 10 years on embryonic stem cell research, if he is elected governor.

Hatch said at a news conference at the State Capitol that President Bush's recent veto of expanded federal funding for stem cell research has created a void that states must fill.

Make no mistake about it. Mike Hatch wants to use Minnesota's taxpayer monies to fund what can only be described as macabre Mengelian pursuits on the most innocent among us.

Stem cell "research" as it stands now involves nothing less than the destroying--killing--of a human embryo-- a human life in its earliest form--to harvest stem cells which have shown not so much as a hint of a promise of utility in curing human maladies:

The DFL endorsed candidate for governor said Minnesota should be a leader in such research. Hatch cited the promise of stem cell research to cure diseases such as Alzheimer's and diabetes.

There is not now nor has there been any credible promise of a cure for Alzheimer's using embryonic stem cells!!! Aside from the fact that there is no known way to grow a stem cell into a brain cell, embryonic stem cells have not been tested on human beings for the simple reason that they are unstable, and create cancerous tumors when injected into mice!

Adult stem cells, on the other hand, show the greatest promise, and are the most stable of stem cells.

Make no mistake about it. The motive to continue to destroy human embryos (again--a human life in its earliest form) is not for scientific, but for political purposes! The end game in all of this is to de-humanize embryos, so as to continue to make such heinous (yet profitable) practices as abortion and human organ farming all that much more palatable.

Mike Hatch knows this. But, like many other of the leftists out there, he is more than willing to kill innocents in the name of political gain.

Hey there, single ladies! Forget E-Harmony! Forget Match.com. Who needs your butt-in-ski "matchmaker" Aunt Suzie--when there's Friendster! On Friendster you can meet all kinds of interesting people, like Naveed, whose passions include any kind of music (other than country or heavy metal), going out, hanging out with friends... oh yes, and did I mention shooting up Jewish community centers?

Unfortunately, as his profile indicates, Naveed didn't have many friends:

About Me:Exercising is a passion for me. I like to stay in shape and I like biking. Being opinionated is not me but I lean on the liberal side. I don't do anything real crazy, like ice climbing or bungee jumping (but he does like killing Jews). That would require getting off land, which I don't like to do. Finally, I like cats, but currently I have no cats. (I guess the cats wouldn't play with him, either)

Who I Want to Meet:A person who has a sense of humor and is easy going like myself. (heh) A woman of the world, but not a worldly woman. I'm not sure what that means. It just sounded good. Last but not least, people with felonies need not seek my company. (heh--pretty hard to live with himself now, I'd guess)

Naveed's Testimonials

No Testimonials Yet (although I'm sure that Naveed will have plenty of time for some testimonials while awaiting his coming execution)

If you find this profile offensive, please report it to us and we will take appropriate action (Just like Naveed?)

So come on there, swinging bachelorettes--take a chance on "swinging" Naveed (heh--he may just be swinging on the end of a rope).

Leftists are a clueless lot. They are incredulous at defeat; incredulous that their message is rejected by voters; incredulous that people would actually reject their philosophy. Anytime they lose an election, it couldn't be because of their ideas. Rather, it is due to trickery by Karl Rove, voting machine fraud, you name it. Every electoral loss by a leftist is considered a stolen election.

MEXICO CITY — Tens of thousands of supporters of Mexico's leftist candidate gathered in the capital Sunday for what they hoped would become the nation's largest-ever street protest, demanding a vote-by-vote recount of an election they claim was marred by fraud.

It was the third rally convened by presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador since the July 2 vote and there were concerns he might radicalize his followers, who have so far been peaceful and orderly.

Lopez Obrador's aides say they expect 1.5 million to 3 million people to attend the demonstration. While his supporters and city police have sometimes exaggerated crowd estimates, the former mayor has previously drawn hundreds of thousands into the streets.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Today, I would like to present the concept of "al-Taqiyya" in the following exposition. This topic is as thorny as previous ones have been, and many people have experienced great difficulty in trying to understand it. I pray to Allah (SWT) that this discussion will help loosen some of the intellectual rust that has accumulated over the years in many peoples' minds. The interminable negative propaganda that people are bombarded with on a daily basis serves to nurture feelings of animosity and disbelief towards the Shia; additionally, it may promote the explicit denial of proven facts and truths. Nonetheless, you owe it to yourself tosearch for the truth; and, indeed, Allah (SWT) has commanded that you do. As such, it is your prerogative to believe or reject everything that the Shia claim; but my plea is that the next time you hear a discussion about the Shia in your Mosque, or any place else, please remember my posts, and question the person who is discussing the topic. Only then, will you see my point, In Sha' Allah (SWT).

I intend to demonstrate and prove that the concept of "al-Taqiyya" is an integral part of Islam, and that it is NOT a Shi'ite concoction.

As usual, the two perspectives, the Sunnis and the Shia, will be presented to maintain a level of fairness and integrity in the reporting of this topic.

============Introduction============The word "al-Taqiyya" literally means: "Concealing or disguising one's beliefs, convictions, ideas, feelings, opinions, and/or strategies at a time of eminent danger, whether now or later in time, to save oneself from physical and/or mental injury." A one-word translation would be "Dissimulation."

The above definition must be elaborated upon before any undertaking of this topic is to ensue. Although correct, the definition suffers from an apparent generalization, and lacks some fundamental details that should be construed:

First, the CONCEALMENT of one's beliefs does NOT necessitate an ABANDONMENT of these beliefs. The distinction between "concealment" and "abandonment" MUST be noted here.

Second, there are numerous exceptions to the above definition, and they MUST be judged according to the situation that one is placed in. As such, one should NOT make a narrow-minded generalization that encompasses all situations, thereby failing to fully absorb the spirit of the definition.

With the above in mind, it becomes evident that a better, and more accurate definition of "al-Taqiyya" is "diplomacy." The true spirit of "al-Taqiyya" is better embodied in the single word "diplomacy" because it encompasses a comprehensive spectrum of behaviors that serve to further the vested interests of all parties involved.

==================================al-Taqiyya According to the Sunnis==================================Some Sunnis assert that al-Taqiyya is an act of pure hypocrisy that serves to conceal the truth and reveal that which is the exact opposite (of the truth). Furthermore, according to those Sunnis, al-Taqiyya constitutes a lack of faith and trust in Allah (SWT) because the person who conceals his beliefs to spare himself from eminent danger is fearful of humans, when, in fact, he should be fearful of Allah (SWT) only. As such, this person is a coward.

======================================Sunni Sources in Support of al-Taqiyya======================================The following exposition will Insha Allah demonstrate the existence of al-Taqiyya in the Quran, Hadith, the Prophet's (PBUH&HF) custom, and the companions' custom. As usual, Sunni books will be used to further the argument. This is in keeping with the commitment to reveal the truth by showing that the Sunnis reject the Shia's arguments, while THEIR OWN books are replete (full) with the SAME ideologies that the Shia uphold! Although some Wahhabis staunchly argue their aforementioned statements, and aggressively defame the Shia and refute their doctrines, they have failed to explain the validity of their argument vis-a-vis the existence of these SAME doctrines in their own books, as has been demonstrated in ALL the past posts about the Shia. Those who think that they are the true protectors of the custom of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) and the only guardians of the Islamic Faith, how can they explain their own rejection of that which they are supposed to protect? Rejecting al-Taqiyya is rejecting the Quran, as will be shown shortly.

Let's Begin...

Reference 1:-----------Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti in his book, "al-Durr al-Manthoor Fi al-Tafsir al-Ma'athoor," narrates Ibn Abbas', the MOST renowned and trusted narrator oftradition in the sight of the Sunnis, opinion regarding al-Taqiyya in the Quranic verse: "Let not the believers take for friends or helpers unbelievers rather than believers: if any do that, (they) shall have no relation left with Allah except by way of precaution ("tat-taqooh"), that ye may guard yourselves ("tooqatan") from them....[3:28]" that Ibn Abbas said:

"al-Taqiyya is with the tongue only; he who has been COERCED into saying that which angers Allah (SWT), and his heart is comfortable (i.e., his TRUE faith has NOT been shaken.), then (saying that which he has been coerced to say) will NOT harm him (at all); (because) al-Taqiyya is with the tongue only, (NOT the heart)."

NOTE: The two words "tat-taqooh" and "tooqatan," as mentioned in the ArabicQuran, are BOTH from the same root of "al-Taqiyya."

NOTE ALSO: The "heart" as referred to above and in later occurrences refers to the center of faith in an individual's existence. It is mentioned many times in the Quran.

Reference 2:-----------Ibn Abbas also commented on the above verse, as narrated in Sunan al-Bayhaqi and Mustadrak al-Hakim, by saying:

"al-Taqiyya is the uttering of the tongue, while the heart is comfortable with faith."

NOTE: The meaning is that the tongue is permitted to utter anything in a time of need, as long as the heart is not affected; and one is still comfortable with faith. (Read the whole thing)

Thursday, July 27, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean on Wednesday called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki an "anti-Semite" for failing to denounce Hezbollah for its attacks against Israel.

Al-Maliki has condemned Israel's offensive, prompting several Democrats to boycott his address to a joint meeting of Congress and others to criticize him. Dean's comments were the strongest to date.

"The Iraqi prime minister is an anti-Semite," the Democratic leader told a gathering of business leaders in Florida. "We don't need to spend $200 and $300 and $500 billion bringing democracy to Iraq to turn it over to people who believe that Israel doesn't have a right to defend itself and who refuse to condemn Hezbollah."

If this isn't the most blatant case of the pot calling the kettle black, nothing is. Just the other day, no less than seven democrats refused to back a resolution that would in fact back the same thing that Dean is condemning Al-Maliki for refusing to back.

And why does Dean never condemn the French or Germans or other democrats, for that matter, for refusing to recognize that Israel has the right to defend itself?!? Instead, they insult a leader of a country that is an ally in our fight against radical islamofascists, knowing full well that our soldiers shed blood giving birth to that democracy, and knowing full well that any slap to the face of Iraq is a direct slap to Bush and to our war effort.

Such blatant hypocrisy knows no bounds in the democrat party.

The long and the short of it is simple, and I do not say it lightly:

The leadership of the democrat party have become enemies of the State.

The democrats have taken their jihad beyond the political. No longer can they separate the good of their nation from their political objectives, for to them, the United States ceased being "their nation" when Republicans took control of Congress in 1994, and even more specifically when Bush won the Presidency in 2000. Since then, to the democrats, the United States itself as a nation has become synonymous with and inseparable from the Republican party, and, as an arm of the Republican party (in their eyes), its best interests are to be defeated at all costs.

Rather than being able to separate political party from the nation which the party governs, the democrat party has in effect declared themselves to be the insurgency--an enemy of the United States, which they see as having been "unjustly" taken away from them. Therefore, what is good for the United States is good for their enemy (the Republican Party) and bad for them; and what is bad for the United States is bad for their enemy(the Republican Party), and good for the democrats. Never mind that they cut off their collective nose to spite their collective face, and perhaps even lose a war and even innocent lives in a terrorist attack in the process; for the ends certainly justify the means. I mean, what's a little collateral damage in the fight to regain control of what they consider to be their country?

This democrat insurgency will no doubt continue, in their minds, in full force until such time that they are finally in power; when the United States will, in their eyes, once again magically turn into a good nation beyond reproach.

This line of thinking is as foreign to the minds of conservatives as Greece is to outer Mongolia; but given the liberals' constant barrage of attacks on our nation and constant undermining of our national security during a time of war, one can come to no other conclusion:

The liberal democrat left have declared war on the United States of America.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

National and Minnesota Democrats seem about ready to walk away from Coleen Rowley's ill-fated campaign to unseat Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) — just as her campaign manager recently did.

Many in the party had hoped that Rowley's national fame — Time magazine named her Person of the Year in 2002 for being a whistle-blower at the FBI — would make her an exciting, appealing candidate in an otherwise Republican-leaning district. But now some state Democrats say Rowley's first run for political office is going so badly that they're turning their sights on damage control.

"She's running the single worst campaign that could be run," said one state Democratic insider. "I'm worried that if she's running a weak race in the 2nd it's going to hurt the statewide candidates. What's going to get people to turn out and vote Democratic?"

The three were personal assistants and bodyguards to Dr. Rafa Hayid Chiad Al-Isaw, an Iraqi government official in Baghdad.

“We are extremely pleased we were able to recover these three Iraqi citizens,” said Col. Larry D. Nicholson, commanding officer for RCT-5. “The safety of Iraqi citizens to move freely about their own country without fear is a priority for U.S and Iraqi forces and we will continue to assist the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Police in ensuring their citizens have a future that is free of terrorism.”

The three were held captive by al-Qaeda insurgents in a spiderhole complex for 27 days. The hostages were beaten with electrical cords, bitten and threatened with their lives at gunpoint by their captors. (And Teddy Kennedy has the cajones to moan about Club Gitmo??--ed) They were treated by Coalition Forces medical personnel.

The three were taken hostage by al-Qaeda insurgents west of Zaidon, a rural area south of Fallujah. They were rescued near Fuhaylat, southwest of Fallujah.

BALAD – Iraqi Army forces conducted a pre-dawn raid in Baghdad on July 25, capturing six targeted insurgents, all of whom are believed to be involved in ‘death squad’ activities.As coalition force advisers looked on, Iraqi forces raided an objective in southwest Baghdad consisting of four separate buildings and captured the cell leader and five other key members of an insurgent ‘punishment committee.’

Iraqi forces also seized two AK-47 assault rifles, one pistol, and one set of body armor.

The operation occurred without incident; there were no Iraqi or coalition force casualties.